


Woe to the Vanquished

by Raewyll



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, rivamika
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2019-12-30 16:49:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18319349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raewyll/pseuds/Raewyll
Summary: No one can share an office with him for long and she still has some grudges to settle. Somewhere along the road, compromises will have to be made.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My newest attempt at tackling a common theme for modern au stories: welcome to the office! Like Midnight Musings, you can expect a simpler plot and shorter chapters. I appreciate all sorts of feedback!

There is loud knock on the door.

Buried between two towering sheets of paper, Levi Ackerman raises his head to prepare for the inevitable. “Come in,” he grunts, brushing a few stray strands of hair that have fallen dangerously close to his eyes.

He has just enough time to stand and fasten a few lose buttons on his shirt before the door bursts open.

“Here we are,” Hanji exclaims dramatically as she steps over the doorstep, waving towards the spacious but meagrely furnished office to invite another person inside. “Levi,” she addresses him casually, “this here is Mikasa and she will be working here for the next few weeks.”

At the mention of her name, a young woman steps forward, allowing her form to be illuminated by the gloomy afternoon light.

“Mikasa Ackerman,” she introduces herself politely, reaching a hand forward. “Nice to meet you.”

He pauses for a moment, unsure of whether he has heard her correctly. A brief side-glance at the grinning face of his superior tells him everything he needs to know. Eventually, after a few seconds of silence, he reaches out and shakes her hand, reciprocating the gesture. “Levi Ackerman,” he says, keeping his tone even and his expression schooled. Her eyes widen a little bit she’s quick to contain her surprise as she returns his gaze.

She’s the first one to pull her hand away.

He regards her for a moment and finally opens his mouth to relay his instructions but Hanji beats him to the punch, like usual. “I will give you a quick tour,” she explains in a hurry, probably itching to return to her current obsession. “This here will be your spot,” she gabbles, “feel free to use it to your heart’s desire, but that one over there,” and she points at his desk, “is off-limits and a big no-no.”

Well, he can’t argue with that.

“All computers are required to be protected by password and I put yours somewhere here,” she continues, searching desperately inside one of her many pockets. “Ah well, Levi can just give it to you later. He will give you all the forms too.” For a moment, it seems that she finally has her speech concluded before she opens her mouth once again. “Also, he’s a helpless perfectionist, so don’t mind him too much,” she whispers to Mikasa way too loud to be intended as a secret. “Just don’t let him get under your skin, alright?” she finishes with a wink and quickly waves goodbye before rushing through the door.

Levi is happy to finally see her back turned.

By the time he turns back to check on the new temp, he finds her hunched over the desk, her nimble fingers moving fast across the keyboard.

“I appreciate the enthusiasm,” he says, “but you won’t get far without the password.”

Just as he finishes his sentence, the login screen fades and he sees the desktop swimming into view. He opens his mouth to say something but finds himself at the lack of words.

“Apparently, someone forgot this here,” the girl explains as she turns to face him, holding a piece of pale yellow sticky note in her hand. “It’s a match.”

“Then throw it out,” he scoffs. “I’d appreciate if you didn’t leave company secrets hanging around.”

She nods, seemingly unfazed by the harshness of his tone. She quickly flips through the many papers laying around unattended inside her work space. “Do you want me to sort this by name or date?” she asks, her voice calm and undisturbed.

He tilts his head a little; her attitude seems surprisingly professional. Where did they find her?

“You will have to create separate folders for each month and organize everything alphabetically later.”

Once again, she simply nods and places her handbag on the desk before taking a seat. After a few clicks, she looks up again. “There are two months missing,” she concludes, her voice stern and confident.

“That’s because the previous temp fucked up and left everything in a mess. It gave me two hours of extra work just to sort through two months worth of paperwork for all the mixed up data,” he complains but she quickly cuts him off.

“Nonsense,” she replies, quickly surveying the stacks and pulling the appropriate tower of printed papers closer to herself. “An hour should be more than enough.”

“Of course,” he retorts in a mocking tone as he moves back towards his own space to refill his cup with a fresh batch of black tea. “As long as you remember not to be a dimwit and sort _Smith Ltd._ and _Schmidt Co._ under different names…”

Well, that must’ve hit a nerve… As he casually glances back towards the girl, he can see her expression darkening.

“That was a mistake,” she argues, her glare now so focues that the intensity would be impossible to miss.

“A stupid mistake,” he corrects her, curious to see how she will react. “This is the sort of mistake that can get you fired.”

Once again, she does not shy away from his gaze.

“Apparently,” she replies, her voice full of scorn. “Any other stupid mistakes I should be watching out for?”

_That tone_ , he wants to say but decides against it. “Figuring it out is part of the job,” he replies instead, placing his cup back on the table. “Good luck.”

She has nothing else to say. Regarding him with the silent treatment, she turns back towards the screen and opens the first folder from the pile in front of her.

“Also, wash the dishes before you leave.” He watches as her head snaps and her eyes narrow. “Part of the job as well.”

With that, he leisurely pulls his jacket from the hanger and prepares to leave. She does not delay him and offers no further comment.

“Well then,” he says, “I want those two months completed by tomorrow morning. We will discuss your progress once I’m done with my first meeting.”

He waits just a moment longer, wanting to see how she will react. However, she simply nods – yet again – and turns back towards the computer. A wise choice, Levi thinks.

He leaves the room without saying goodbye.

_Game on_ , he thinks, unaware of the finger that he has just been given from behind closed doors.

_Game on_ , she thinks too.


	2. Chapter 2

He’s late.

_Again._

Mikasa quickly flips through the last batch of archived forms from last afternoon. His office phone starts ringing, but she ignores it. After all, she isn’t allowed to answer.

It takes the caller a long time to give up and Mikasa sighs in relief as the buzzing finally stops.

It’s the same deal every morning.

She finally stands up, stretching her back, arms and shoulders a little before she walks to the crowded little cabinet in the corner. The doors, like usual, are unlocked, so she pulls forward a new stack and places it on her desk, right next to the old one.

He’s late - but more than usual.

This is her fourth day in the office and by now, she knows his morning routine by heart: every day, he goes straight to the top floor for his scheduled meeting with the prestigious “c-suite”. After that, he shares his personal coffee – or rather, tea – break with Mr. Smith, the almighty CEO himself. Then, and only then, he finally comes back to his office to start breathing down on Mikasa’s neck.

“Is the January stack ready?”

“Did you do the background check for every supplier?”

“Did you turn the thermostat down?”

“Have you prepared last month’s financial report yet?”

“Did you turn the thermostat down _again_?!”

Levi Ackerman is indeed a hopeless perfectionist, so figuring out _how_ he wants things done isn’t even the hardest part…

She opens the first hardcover folder to find that it isn’t even the one she needs right now. She almost closes it but eventually decides against it on a whim. With a few clicks, she quickly manages to locate its digital equivalent and starts scrolling through the neatly administered tables and diagrams.

She doesn’t even know what she’s looking for until she finds it.

She closes the folder with a triumphant smirk.

_Jackpot._

…

The conversation slowly fades into background noise as his thoughts start to wander.

Truth to be told, he can’t even remember what the discussion has been about but fortunately, no one seems to notice his passivity.

Truth to be told, they never do.

Truth to be told, he couldn’t care less.

These protocol meetings have been dragging on for far too long in the last few weeks. Really, what’s the point of talking the same shit over and over again? He glances at his watch and silently curses.

Suddenly, people start fidgeting and moving around him and he realizes that the has just concluded. He’s the first one to rise, excusing himself as he pushes through the crowd of execs just getting to their feet. He doesn’t have the time for pleasantries.

Of course, Erwin takes his sweet time to get back to his office, but that’s none of his business. He just sits there in comfortable silence, sipping his freshly prepared tea while CEO’s assistant juggles a pen, the receiver and a coffee cup in her hands.

“Don’t bother,” he grumbles when Nifa finally hangs up on the call. “He’s already had his first two cups before and after the conference.”

The girl scoffs, murmuring something about cheap coffee but releases Erwin’s favourite cup obediently.

“Finally,” Levi says as the man in question rushes into the room. “What took you so long?”

“I’m sorry, Levi, but we have to skip our session today,” he apologizes and strides closer to the wall to readjust his tie in front of the mirror. “Something came up.”

“Could’ve just said so,” he sighs, rising impatiently from the comfortable leather seat. “Thanks for the tea,” he says as he places his cup next to Erwin’s. Nifa can only nod and smile as the phone starts ringing again.

He murmurs a quick “see you tomorrow” and closes the door properly on his way out, making sure to avoid the elevator after spotting a small crowd waiting for a ride down.

…

“There’s something we need to discuss.”

He looks up, regarding her with a curious expression.

“Indeed,” he replies, surprising Mikasa in turn. “You go first,” he adds, unbuttoning his jacket and shaking it off.

His compliance catches her off-guard and it takes her a moment longer than usual to gather her thoughts. “I have found some additional mistakes,” she starts, leaving him enough time to turn back around and raise an eyebrow. “From the previous term,” she continues, feeling a hint of excitement as his usual stoic expression turns into a displeased frown.

“Impossible,” Levi concludes after a few seconds of thinking. “Those records are perfectly reliable.” With that, he turns again from her to loosen his tie, but Mikasa isn’t willing to give up.

“Did _you_ do them?” she asks, tone more demanding than curious and definitely stern enough to secure his attention.

“No,” he says. When Mikasa still doesn’t back down, he continues with a bit of hesitation: “My assistant did.”

That is enough to put a stop to her inquiries for a moment, but only because she knows that it is, in fact, impossible.

Levi Ackerman has no assistant. No matter how many interns they keep throwing at him, he keeps chewing through them in record time and Mikasa is well aware of that. It’s her turn to raise her eyebrow questioningly.

“I take full accountability for those records,” he says, voice somewhat irritated.

“Well,” she retorts, “maybe you shouldn’t.” With that, she reaches back towards her desk and scoops up a freshly printed sheet of paper, handing it to him with a firm gesture.

He studies it for a moment, eyes narrowing.

“It’s nothing serious,” Mikasa adds, “but it’s a systematic error. It’s going to show up everywhere.”

He finally looks up from her report but this time, she finds his expression hard to read.

“How much?” he asks.

“How much _what_?” she replies, a little confused.

“How much time will it take to get this sorted out?” This time, he’s looking straight at her and she finds the intensity and weight of his gaze hard to match.

“I don’t know,” she mumbles, still a little embarrassed. “I’d need to see the original forms. How many months _are_ we talking about?”

“Many,” he sighs. “I’ll make sure they put it on your payroll.” He reaches into his back pocket and fishes out his keycard. “Let’s go.”

“Where to?” Mikasa asks.

“Downstairs. We need to get everything from the archives.”

…

It feels like the elevator is taking forever to arrive.

Finally, the little bell chimes and the door slides open. Levi gestures towards the door impatiently, allowing Mikasa to walk in before he does.

From the corner of his eyes, he can see someone sprinting towards them, their voice muffled by the glass doors separating the main corridor from the rest of the hallway. He quickly presses the close button and ignores the glare coming from his new assistant.

The door closes behind them.

It takes a while for the elevator to start.

Why is everything so unbelievably slow today?

Suddenly, the elevator comes to a rough halt, sending both of them a little off-balance and forcing Levi to lean against the mirrored wall for support.

What the hell?

The counter is still stuck on the same floor.

He presses the open button and nothing happens.

He glances towards Mikasa and her worried expression tells him that she’s come to the same conclusion.

He sighs in frustration as he presses the small alarm button and waits anxiously for the call to connect.

Are they _really_ trapped?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... how close to the top this trope is on your lists? I know it's just moved up a few spots on mine...


	3. Chapter 3

****

“I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience, sir, but there is nothing more I can do.”

The voice fades and the emergency line closes with a soft ‘click’.

After carefully adjusting the neckline of her blouse, Mikasa looks over just in time to see Levi’s finger slipping off of the control panel. The faint background hum of the built-in speaker fades, leaving her surrounded by stillness and silence.

“One hour,” Mikasa repeats quietly. Why does she feel this sudden urge to fill the gap?

“I hope you had your bathroom break.”

He’s stoic and short-spoken, like usual. She doesn’t deem his comment worthy of an answer.

“Stop staring,” he grumbles and moves to lean against the wall just another person’s distance of where she’s standing.

“I am not,” she replies calmly but realizes that her eyes have indeed been locked on his form without her even noticing.

“Course not,” he huffs.

“Then why did you move closer?”

Instead of an answer, he turns his head towards her and studies her for a long moment, his expression indecipherable. He blinks and turns back towards the front. “At least this way I don’t have to be aware that you are glaring daggers at me.”

“I am not,” she protests again, but this time, with more grit.

Once again, he takes his sweet time reacting to her statement. “Know what? Just say it…”

“Say what?”

“Whatever it is that has you so pissed about me.”

Mikasa goes quiet. Levi pauses for a moment, probably waiting to hear her answer but when she says nothing, he continues: “Did I cut you off in the hallway?”

She shakes her head.

“Nabbed the last cake from you in the cafeteria?”

“What?”

“Refused to donate to your fundraising?”

She sighs. “You fired my brother.”

He stops for a moment and gives her another scrutinizing look. “Your brother?”

“Eren Jaeger.”

“Ah.”

Mikasa knows that look; she’s seen it a thousand times. He doesn’t believe her. This time, however, she finds no inclination to explain the situation to yet another stranger and so she remains silent.

“And here I was, thinking that I’ve actually done something to offend you,” he muses but this time, his eyes remain fixed on the door.

“He made one mistake.”

“It was a big one,” he shrugs.

“ _One_ mistake,” Mikasa repeats.

“And you’ve been sitting here, correcting that one mistake for days,” he says.

“You could’ve given him a chance. He needed that money…”

“I gave him one,” he says, tone and expression still stoic and unchanged, “and he fucked it up. End of story.”

Mikasa feels her fingers curling to a fist. She bites down her lip, desperately searching for a good comeback. “What about _this_?” she says. “I will be sitting here correcting this one for weeks!”

She keeps staring at him until he finally turns to return her gaze. She knows that he knows what she’s talking about… The error she has noticed has been sitting there for months.

“And you will be compensated adequately,” he says.

“Who was it?”

“None of your business.”

“It couldn’t have been you,” Mikasa says, pushing the issue. “You always double-check everything – even do it triple if it’s that important. But for someone, you were willing to look past that…”

“None of your business,” he says again, irritation now apparent.

“Was it a woman?” Mikasa continues, not backing down. “Did you fire her too?”

“No.”

She sees his frustration as confirmation and this only edges her on. “Do women get double the chances men do? How many do _I_ have? Or does being your mistress grant immunity from fucking up too?”

As soon as she says it, she knows that she went too far but words cannot be taken back and after that, everything happens too fast.

…

He uses his uninjured hand to reach up to the collar of his shirt and uncoil the tie from around his neck. From the corner of his eyes, he can see her staring at him; scared and uncertain about what to do.

He can’t blame her, not really.

But still, why couldn’t she just shut her mouth?

Whatever.

It doesn’t matter now.

He uses his teeth to tighten the makeshift bandage but the fabric is too slippery and he finds no good grip with his fingers.

“Let me,” she says, her voice firm but quiet and her fingers curl around his wrist before he could refuse. “I apologise for everything,” she says and he can tell that she’s sincere about it.

She doesn’t appear to be bothered by the blood and she no longer seems to be afraid of him either. Strangely, her eyes now appear to be certain and calm and her fingers move deftly as she secures the cloth around the cuts marring his hand.

“We should call in,” she advises gently.

“There’s no point. It’s not an emergency.”

She opens her mouth to say something but decides against it. She’s avoiding his eyes and truth to be told, he doesn’t really mind it. He watches as she tucks a lose strand of hair behind her ear, then his gaze travels to the ghastly spiderweb crack on the mirror behind them.

“She died,” he says, almost against his better judgement, “and Mikasa, regardless what anyone might say or claim, she has never been my mistress.”

 “I’m sorry,” she whispers.

He can see her shoulders quiver a little. He should stop now, just like she should’ve, but there really is no point in holding back now.

“I am too,” he continues. “It was my fault.”

The crack in the mirror expands and another small shard falls to the floor; the small clink of its landing seems to echo for long in the heavy silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Strangely, I never planned for the scene to play out this way. However, once it was done and ready, everything seemed to fall in place so I decided to keep it and go with the flow instead.


End file.
